Day 248: End in Sight

We originally planned our stay in Canada to last about 1095 days. I joyfully announce that our stay (sentence?) has been reduced to just short of 500 days, 248 of which have already been served.

Yes, we are coming home after the kids finish school at the end of June. Please note the countdown clock below my followers :)

Things I am excited to see again:

Mountains

Family

Lake Powell (You guys, we totally need to plan a trip. Nick might die if we don't)

My cute neighborhood

The ward 

Things I'll be sad to leave:

New friends

The gym, my second home (I told Nick that I demand a gym membership when we get back)

The ward

Timbits

Don't be sad, Canadian friends! This gives you an excuse to visit Utah!

Day 244: Qu'avez-vous appris?

At the end of the yoga class I attend, the teacher guides us through a short relaxation/meditation exercise. The other day she suggested a simple way to keep our thoughts and attitudes positive. Think of something that immediately brings a smile to your face. Or better, something that instantly makes you laugh out loud - a child, a dog, husband, your best friend or something funny that you heard or saw.
When you face a negative thought or situation, think of this person, thing, or time.
In other words, go to your happy place!

This is a silly thing that I thought of  (and probably not funny to anyone but me) but it makes me laugh.
Christa, Emma and Ethan were sitting at the kitchen table and I came in and announced loudly "C'est moi!!"
In perfect sync they shouted back "MOI!"
Then looked puzzled when I burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" They asked.

Haven't they learned anything in French class?

(Here is the Google Translation if the hilarity is escaping you as well. Use the "listen" button)

Day 243: I Smell a...

When Deven came back from visiting Utah over the summer, one of the first things he did was buy a pet rat. Without asking us. Whatever. It's your pet, you feed it and take care of it. And it lives in your room. Yuck.

Well this little guy has grown on me. On all of us, in fact. Even Nick, who usually hates critters of all kinds.
Introducing: The Rat, aka Ratsky von Ratterson, Ratrick J. Rattstien, sometimes called Clark, but mostly he goes by Lil Guy.

I never knew that rats were such social critters. He really is sweet and  has such a cute personality. His cage has been moved upstairs so he can have some social interaction. He spends most evenings running free, merrily prancing from lap to lap while we watch TV. If you make a 'kiss kiss' sound, he'll jump up and give you a kiss :)

We've decided he's the perfect pet. No barking, he doesn't need to be walked or put outside, and when we're done playing with him, we just put him back in his cage. No fuss, no noise.

 Don't you judge me!

Day 239: Stratford

What a beautiful day! Deven went to Muskoka for the day with some friends to help close up their cottage, so with one less body crowding our small car, we decided to go for a drive. We ended up in the lovely town of Stratford.

From Wikipedia-
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County, Southwestern Ontario.
When the area was first settled in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England, of Shakespearean fame. The swan has become a symbol of the city. Each year twenty-four white swans and two black swans are released into the Avon River.

It really is a charming little town, and the Victorian architecture is gorgeous. Stratford hosts the yearly world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and the Stratford Summer Music Festival. Here is a nice website.

Strolling through the garden

Mr.Shakespeare. Fun for Christa, since she's been a bit obsessed with "The Bard" lately. Her English class is reading Romeo and Juliet, and she's in Drama club working on a medley of Shakespeare's plays.

Trolls

Emma and Daddy :)

 

Gaol. This is a terrible picture taken from the car as we drove by.

According to my research, this is still an operating jail. It seems to be undergoing some construction around the back, and there is razor wire strung everywhere!

I also read that this jail is haunted by a man hanged here in 1895. Verrry interesting.

Oh and by the way? Stratford  is Justin Bieber's hometown (preteen shriek!)

Day 238: Loving the Leaves

I borrowed this photo from this website because none of my crappy photos did the trees justice. And I was a little late getting out to take any good ones :)
I am still riding my bike in the mornings. Some days it's quite chilly, but it's lovely to ride through the crunchy leaves. It's gorgeous when the sun is shining and the leaves are blowing through the air.
Something that is unusual here (and sometimes frustrating) is that there are no mountains to block the sun in the mornings. The sun just comes right up. Hello sunshine! Good bright shiny morning! It can be frustrating because there are certain times of the morning and evening where the sun-visor in the car just can't block out the sun.
Those are times when I very much miss the lovely mountains.

Mount Timpanogos photo courtesy http://opentravel.com

Day 235: Give Thanks

From Wikipedia:

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, occurring on the second Monday in October, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season.
Although the original act of Parliament references God and the holiday is celebrated in churches, the holiday is now mostly celebrated in a secular manner.
On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed:

“

A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

”

Canadian Thanksgiving coincides with Columbus Day in the United States and the Dia de la Raza in most of Latin America.

This was a very anti-climactic holiday for me. We went through the motions - made the proper foods in excessive amounts, but my heart wasn't in it. It just didn't feel "Thanksgiving-y."
Was it the lack of extended family around us, no four day weekend? Maybe it was the lack of football games - on TV or in the yard,  no commando early morning shopping trip, or maybe it was because there were no children with Pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses.

Image courtesy of Google

I did attempt to make my mom's signature holiday Jello dish. I almost got it right, but not quite!

Don't think I'm not thankful, though. I am. Quite. I'm thankful that we were able to spend the day with our little family around us, thankful that we even have food on our table, and thankful that we get to do it again.
In November like it should be.

Day 202: Eat Less, Exercise More

I don't like to brag or look like I'm showing off, but this has been part of my Canadian experience. And I'm pretty pleased. 

No photoshop or airbrushing took place on this photo (I wouldn't know how) though I did crop and adjust the color a little. Posing like Paris Hilton helps too ;)

Over the last 4 - almost 5 months, I have lost 40 pounds.

What's the secret? My motto has been "Eat less, Exercise more." I have the luxury of not having a job, which means I'm at the gym nearly every day. (except Sundee) I try to eat more veggies and less carbs (bread and pasta are my weakness) That's about it. Oh and less dessert-type stuff (I'm with Kazzy) though I try not to feel too guilty if I do have a cookie (or two)

March '09

L-R: My Mom, Grand-mère, me and Auntie Di

These are the same pants I am wearing in the above photos. 
They used to be pretty snug :)

Day 196: Almost Famous

Deven and I went to the mall in Hamilton to look around. Just for fun, you know.
We noticed people standing in line for something and went to see what was going on.
Apparently there was going to be a meet and greet/autograph signing for some singer/musician we had never heard of. Every time we passed that area the crowd got bigger. At one point we were on the upper level looking down at all these people wondering who it could be that they were so excited about.
We decided to move on and got on the escalator. As we came down, all the people started cheering, screaming and taking pictures.
We were very confused.
"I bet you've never felt so special" Deven said to me, waving to the crowd.
Apparently this guy that everyone came to see was right in front of us on the escalator. So funny.
I did some research and discovered the guy was Johnny Reid, Canadian country music star.

I Still don't know who he is, but it was fun to share his spotlight!

Day 194: Airshow!

The 2010 Brantford Rotary Charity Airshow was held on a Wednesday, which I find odd. The gates opened at 11:00, at which time you could tour/view most of the planes that would participate in the Big Show that commenced at 3:30.
I really wanted to attend this event. I had never been to an airshow before, but can you see the problem here?
Middle of the day, middle of the week. Which means I have no car.
After researching bus schedules, I discovered that the bus does not actually go all the way to the Brantford Airport. I was determined to attend this event, which would mean taking one bus to the bus terminal, transferring to another bus and then walking the remaining 2K or so to the airport.
The children were less than enthusiastic about my plan.
In fact you might say that I dragged them, kicking and screaming onto the bus. Not really. Pouting and complaining is more like it.
When we got to the bus terminal, oh glorious day! Ethan pointed out a poster that proclaimed "Free shuttle bus  to and from the Airshow!" And so we were spared the 2k walk.

Don't they look happy?

Yes, those are my sunglasses that the Beef  is sporting. 
 

Christa was mad that I took this picture. She calls it 'obscene.' I call it 'historical.'

Tail gunner. Utah friends, this is what I picture when Hugh Sloan is telling his stories of flying with the RAF.

We watched all these big beauties take off and fly right in front of us. It was fantastic!

This is the Canadian Forces Skyhawk Parachute team. 

They jumped in several groups of 3 guys, hanging on to each other in formations. Very cool.

The plane that the Skyhawks jumped from.

Here is Deven, helping out at the hotdog stand :) He sold a lot of hotdogs.

Photo courtesy: snowbirds.forces.gc.ca

The most amazing part of the show was the grand finale.

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron. Wow. 

They are Canada's version of the Blue Angels.  I didn't take any pictures because I was busy staring, slack-jawed into the sky. It really was incredible, awesome and inspiring. Jet engines screaming, flying in tight formation - at times they are only four feet apart.  They moved, nine separate planes, as though they were one. It may have been one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Of course I embarrassed my children when I sang along to Kenny Loggins 'Danger Zone' or screamed "Holy crap pull up!" when they zoomed dangerously close to the ground, and cheered when they drew a 'support our troops' ribbon with smoke. So very cool.

Here is a video to make up for the lack of photos :)

Day 187: How to speak Canadian

These are words and phrases that I have heard in conversation with actual Canadians.

serviette = napkin

Timbits = doughnut holes at Tim Horton's, used generally for all doughnut holes

washroom = bathroom/restroom

hydro = electricity 

phone =  call, as in "Did you phone her?"

needle = shot/immunization

chocolate bar = any candy bar

knapsack = backpack

line-up = line, as in "Did you see how long the line-ups are?"

pencil crayon = colored pencil

marks = what you get on your report card

timetable = class schedule at school

Smarties = Canada's version of M&M's

toque (tuke) = winter hat. 

cheque =  check. "Did you get your paycheque?"

pop = Pepsi, Coke, Sprite etc.

"Pardon?" = "What? Excuse me, I didn't hear/understand you."

tickety-boo = going well/smoothly "Traffic on the QEW this morning is moving along tickety-boo."

zed = the letter Z
Kraft Dinner = macaroni and cheese
grade 6 = 6th grade

In the church library -

Me - "Can I have some chalk please?" 

Librarian - "Would you like a brush as well?"

Me - "What? I mean pardon? Oh! An eraser! Yes please."

Flavour, colour, neighbour, centre, fibre, metre, litre. (My spell check puts a squiggly red line under each of those words. Obviously my spell check isn't Canadian.)

Say project, process and progress with the emphasis on PRO. PROject.
BUT say produce, the stuff that is grown on a farm prah-duce.

Say adult with the emphasis on the A using the short 'a' sound, like in pass. A-dult

Say been like it's spelled - beeeen. Not bin. 

Also the word again. Just like it's spelled: a-gain

The words pasta, Mazda, drama and llama are pronounced with the short 'a' sound, like the word 'pass'

Say sorry and borrow like soar-y and boar-ow. When I say sorry, it sounds like "Saahhh-ry."

And in closing - I've said it before and I'll say it again. Canadians that I have talked to really do say "eh". They deny it though. I think they don't even realized they do it. It's funny every time :)

Day 183: Six Months

Today we have been in Canada for six months. 

It has been a bit chilly the last couple of days when I ride my bike in the morning.

I am looking forward to Autumn and all those red maple leaves and then a lovely Canadian winter. I have enjoyed the summer weather more than I thought I would. I may just prefer the damp, dank heat and monsoon rains to the dry and thirsty Utah heat!

The kids are going back to school in a few weeks. It will be good to get back on a regular schedule.

Christa is very excited to be starting High School and Seminary. 

We are throwing her to the Tim Horton swilling, cigarette smoking wolves. I am sure she will handle it beautifully. 

Deven will be a senior (hopefully looking out for Christa) Emma will be in 7th grade (here it is still part of Elem. School) and Ethan will be in 5th. Makes me feel old :(

So what will I be doing? Hitting the gym a little bit harder, cleaning the house a little bit better, maybe researching the application process for a study permit or work permit?

Day 181: Bored...waiting on the repair guy

100 (or so) famous Canadians!

1. Bryan Adams
2. Pamela Anderson
3. Paul Anka
4. Dan Aykroyd
5. Sebastian Bach
   
6. Randy Bachman 
7. Tal Bachman
8. Conrad Bain
9. The Barenaked Ladies
10. Jay Baruchel
11. Alexander Graham Bell
12. Justin Bieber
13. Michael Buble
14. Raymond Burr
15. James Cameron
16. Neve Campbell
17. John Candy
18. Jim Carrey
19. Kim Cattrall
20. Michael Cera
21. Emmanuelle Chriqui
22. Hayden Christensen
23. Tommy Chong
24. Rae Dawn Chong
25. Elisha Cuthbert
26. Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily Munster) 
27. Céline Dion
    
28. Drake (rapper)
29. Linda Evangelista
30. Nelly Furtado
    
31. Colin Ferguson
32. Dave Foley
33. Michael J. Fox  
34. Brendan Fraser
35. Frank Gehry (architect)
36. Samuel Goldwyn (MGM founder)
37. Ryan Gosling
38. Robert Goulet
39. Tom Green
40. Lorne Greene
41. Shenae Grimes
42. Natasha Henstridge
43. Corey Hart
    
44. Corey Haim
45. Monty Hall
46. Phil Hartman 
47. Jeff Healey
48. Peter Jennings
49. Jean-Louis (Jack) Kerouak (born in US of French-Canadian parents)
50. Diana Krall
51. Avril Lavigne
    
52. k.d. lang
    
53. Geddy Lee (RUSH)
    
54. Gordon Lightfoot
55. Rachelle Lefevre
56. Eugene Levy
57. Evangeline Lilly
58. Rich Little
59. Sarah McLachlan  
60. Lorne Michaels
61. Joni Mitchell
    
62. Alanis Morissette
    
63. Anne Murray
    
64. Alannah Myles
65. Rachel McAdams
66. Dean McDermott
67. Kevin McDonald
68. Norm MacDonald
69. Howie Mandel
70. Rick Moranis
71. Mike Myers
72. Leslie Nielsen
73. Catherine O'Hara
74. Sandra Oh
75. Ellen Page
76. Anna Paquin
77. Matthew Perry
78. Oscar Peterson
79. Christopher Plummer
80. Jason Priestley
81. Keanu Reeves
82. Ryan Reynolds
83. Caroline Rhea
84. Seth Rogen
85. Buffy Sainte Marie
86. Paul Schaffer
87. William Shatner
88. Martin Short
89. Donald Sutherland
90. Kiefer Sutherland
91. Tegan and Sara
92. Alan Thicke
93. Dave Thomas
94. Meg Tilly
95. Alex Trebek
96. Shania Twain
97. Rufus Wainwright 
98. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41)
99. Nikki Yanovsky (adorable young singer)
100. Neil Young

Day 178: à votre santé

Yay socialized medicine! Our health cards came in the mail today.
(important personal details edited out, naturellement)

 Don't you love the mugshot-quality photo?

Back home, we paid 50 bucks every time we walked into the doctors office. Per person. So if we had strep throat going around, it would be 100+ bucks depending on how many of us got sick - not including prescriptions.  With Christa's strep-harboring tonsils, we usually have several bouts per winter so it gets pretty pricey. Hopefully we can get a Canadian doctor to agree that she needs her tonsils taken out. We could never talk our pediatrician into it...

Day 171: Mantracker and Black History

So there's this TV show that we love called Mantracker. It's a Canadian reality show where two ordinary folks have to out-wit and out-run the Mantracker. They rarely do. Usually they panic and run blindly into the woods and twist an ankle. It's awesome.

From the website:

"Two people take off into the bush with a map, a compass and a head start. The tracker is on horseback, armed with a local guide and an arsenal of forensic skills. The prey have 36 hours to reach a finish line some 40 kilometers away without getting caught. How they escape is up to them."

The last episode featured two black guys from Toronto as the prey. They described themselves as city boys who never spent much time outdoors.  As they made their way through the wilderness, they talked about how this experience was similar to their ancestors running from white slave owners on horseback, traveling toward Canada and freedom on the Underground Railroad.

That got me thinking. Were there many slaves that escaped into Canada? Apparently the answer is yes - 
between 1840 and 1860, approximately 30,000 American slaves did just that. You don't hear much about Black History outside of the United States. I certainly hadn't. I had heard of the Underground Railroad, of course, but didn't realize it went all the way to Canada.

Isn't that the mindset of a lot of Americans? We're just not aware of much of anything that happens (past or present) in Canada. Or anywhere outside our own country...or state, or town, come to think of it. Unless it benefits us, of course ;)

Turns out, there's a lot of Black History in Canada.
A few days after the Mantracker episode, there was a very interesting lecture on public TV about Canada's connection with the Underground Railroad. That got me Google-ing and reading about Black Canadians (sometimes referred to as African-Canadians, though Wikipedia told me 'Black Canadian' is generally preferred)

Much good stuff here or here check it out. It's quite interesting :)

Day 165: Current Events - Zero Tolerance

This is a very good thing, but seems like sort of a no-brainer. Legal drinking age in Canada varies by province, but is generally 18 or 19 years old.

"As of Sunday, (according to new legislation in Canada) drivers aged 16 to 21 will have to have a zero blood-alcohol level when they drive.

"We are trying to obviously put a safety net around our youth," said Gregg Thomson, a volunteer and director-at-large with MADD.

The current permissible blood alcohol level for drivers with full G-class licenses is 0.05 per cent. Anyone within the 0.05 to 0.08 range is considered impaired or in the "warn" range.

Thomson said the new law is broad, covering 16- to 21-year-olds, regardless of whether they held restricted or full licences."

Full article here or here

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think most States in the US have similar laws for people under 21?

I'm too lazy to do the research :)

Day 164: Civic Holiday

From Wikipedia -

Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in parts of Canada on the first Monday in August.

Unlike most holidays, there is not much of a reason for this holiday to exist, other than its timing. Between Canada Day and Labour Day, there are no recognizable holidays, one of the longest stretches of time on the Canadian calendar without a holiday. (In terms of legal holidays, the winter stretch between Family Day and Easter is occasionally longer, but unofficial holidays such as Saint Patrick's Day and Valentines Day are observed during that time.) 

Thus, the contrived holiday was placed roughly halfway between Canada Day and Labour Day.

So there you have it. An excuse for a day off of work, or a nice long weekend.

We didn't go to the beach, but we did have a nice friends and family picnic at the church.

 Ethan got all painted up

 Matchy matchy Missionaries 

Men vs. Ladies 

 Guys won :(

 Missionaries vs. Primary

The Elders put up a good fight, but the kids finally beat them!